1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for separating a volume of composite liquid into at least two components.
The apparatus and a method of the invention are particularly appropriate for the separation of biological fluids comprising an aqueous component and one or more cellular components. For example, potential uses of the invention include: extracting a platelet component and a red blood cell component from a volume of filtered blood obtained by flowing of a volume of whole blood through a filter removing platelets and white blood cells therefrom; extracting a plasma component, a platelet component and a red blood cell component from a volume of filtered blood obtained by flowing a volume of whole blood through a filter removing white blood cells therefrom; extracting a plasma component an a cellular component (including platelets, white blood cells, and red blood cells) from a volume of whole blood, the cellular component being subsequently filtered so as to remove platelets and white blood cells therefrom; extracting a plasma component, a platelet component, and a red blood cell component from a volume of whole blood, the white blood cells being subsequently removed by filtration from the platelet component and the red blood cell component.
2. Description of the Related Art
An apparatus for processing blood components is known from document WO 03/089027. This apparatus comprises a centrifuge adapted to cooperate with an annular separation bag connected to at least one product bag, e.g. a platelet component bag. The centrifuge includes:                a rotor having a turntable for supporting the separation bag, and a central compartment for containing the product bag connected to the separation bag; and        a squeezing system for squeezing the separation bag and causing the transfer of a separated component (e.g. platelets suspended in a diluting solution) from the separation bag into the product bag.        
An object of the present invention is to design a centrifugation apparatus that can perform an optimized separation process for separating, in a minimum amount of time, a composite fluid, such as whole blood, into at least two high quality components.